Nanny's Hamburgers turned up a notch!

Bridget’s #9

Nanny’s Hamburgers turned up a notch!

I grew up in a meat and potatoes family.  My Mom is 100% Irish……Dennelly and Maloney are my grandparents!  

Meet Bridget (yes I named my daughter after her) Delia Maloney Dennelly and James Phillip Dennelly. 

My Nana taught my Mom to make the best gravy. We say my Mom can take anything and make gravy from it. At Thanksgiving she is the only one allowed to make the gravy!  That is another subject for another blog. 

This is a recipe my Nana use to make for my Mom and her brothers and sister.  They grew up in Port Washington, Long Island NY in a small house.  The two girls shared the same bedroom, my Mom being the youngest of four,  and her two brothers slept on pullout sofas.  They also shared the one bathroom with their parents.  Times were tight with money but my Nana knew how to make it work!  Hamburgers and gravy went a long way for a little bit of money.

I have taken this recipe my Mom made from her mother’s recipe and turned up the volume!!!  Now it is #9 on Bridget’s top 10 favorite recipes.  It seems it is being handed down from generation to generation!!!!

Check it out………

When my mother would make this she would brown the hamburgers and onions and add water and let it simmer and then thicken it with cornstarch to make the gravy.

Here is my ‘turned up a notch’ version…….

Serves 4

1 ½ pounds of ground beef-I use 90% lean formed into 4 pattys

1 red onion cut in half and sliced

1 small box of baby bella mushrooms sliced

1 box of beef broth

2 tablespoons of beef better than bouillon

1/2 cup of good red wine-anything you would drink will do!

6 fresh carrots cut in 1” cubes

Fresh thyme sprigs

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup of cornstarch

Brown your hamburger patties in a large iron skillet.  I always use an iron skillet when I need to brown anything.  My Nana used one, my Mom uses one and now I use one.  This will be the first thing I buy my daughter when she has a house.  There is nothing like the sear and golden goodness you get from this pan. 

Add your sliced onions and cook them down until they are soft.  

Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they are golden and add the beef broth, beef bouillon, red wine, carrots, thyme sprigs and salt and pepper.  Let this simmer on the stove for approximately an half an hour.  This allows the hamburger meat to absorb all of the flavors.

When you are ready add the egg noodles to boiling water.  They do not take long to cook so do this part at the end.

In a coffee or measuring cup add the cornstarch.  Slowly add water to the cornstarch to create a heavy cream consistency.  Stir in the cornstarch mixture….before your eyes you will have decadent gravy!!!

Serve over the egg noodles.

Handed down by generations and approved by my daughter Bridget.